Auto top material



Dec. 1, 1936. R, MOR AN 2,0 2,469

AUTO TOP MATERIAL Filed June 25, 1932 CQMJCZZ WOZWrf INVENTORJ Ill. 416!A TTOR E Y.

Patented Dec. 1, 1936 I UNITED v STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTO TOP MATERIALRussell Morgan, Fairfield, Conn., assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours &Company, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application June25, 1932, Serial No. 619,210 5 Claims. (01. 154-50) This inventionrelates to auto top material, then varnished with an aluminum'bronzevarand the like, and more particularly, to auto top ,nish of thefollowing composition, parts being material of improved appearance anddurability. given by weight:

. Prior to this time, rubber coated automobile Parts 5 top materialshave been made consisting of the Phthalic anhydride 316 5 usual rubbercoated fabrics, and varnished with Glycerol 184 black oil varnishes, andin some cases, colored Linseed oil acids 500 varnishes, to improve theappearance and to Lead linoleate solution in mineral spirits protect therubber film from the deteriorating (2.6% lead) 87 1o influences ofsunlight and weather. Up to the Manganese linoleate solution in mineral1 present time, black has been the only satisfacspirits (0.3% manganese)tory type of varnish for this purpose. The few Mineral spiri s 313colored varnishes that have been tried have been either very limited asto the shades of color possible, or their durability has been so poorthat they do notmake a satisfactory product.

This varnish vehicle is prepared by-resiniiying in well known manner theglycerol, phthalic anhydride, and linseed oil acids to give an" oil Idified polyhydric alcohol-polybasic acid resin.

An obJect of the present lnvention ls to provide flexible auto topmaterial of improved du- After the reaction is complete the mineralirits are added the reaction mixture is alrablllty and fiIllSh with abright, hlghly reflect- Sp mg metallic Suriaca A further Object is tolowed to cool, and the solutions of driers added.

Immediately before the varnish is to be used, 2 provide flexiblerubberized auto top material presenting a metamosurface upon which coloraluminum bronze powder equivalent to of the total solids content of theabove vehicle is ed varnishes or lacquers may be applied to give acolored product of excellent durability other stirred into the solution.After uniform distrlbu objects of the invention will be apparent fromtion of the alummum powder the varnish is ap- 25 the description givenhereinafter plied to the rubberized fabric, and the film of 2 r Theabove objects are accomplished according z a g gg g g; 2 23 23235 8; 2253232: tothe present invention by applying to a fibrous 22 to agout F for21/ hours The prod base, usually rubber coated, a film of aluminum p 2powder and if desired applying over said uct may be used in thiscondition, or if desired, it 3 minum a suiface film a a colored coatingcan be subsequently coated withacolored varnish position. It ispreferred to employ the usual or f ggg zi r g g g g gfi i gfi type ofrubber coated auto top material and to sea er n 8 apply the aluminumpowder in drying 011 the colored coating composition to prevent the 5nish base, preferably using an oil modified poly- Zm'face e i g g aihydric alcohol-polybasic acid resin type varnish. fimir ggfig? e y cer nngre en n e The single figure in the accompanying draw ing shows asection of auto top material accord- It W111 be understood that theabove example mg to the present invention the figure being an merelyillustrates one specific method of carrying enlarged view to show moreclearly th charout the invention. Any smtable fibrous base ma- 4 acterof the material. Referring to the drawterlal such as used auto P can bee in ins reference numeral I designates a fabri the present inventionand Such may be base,'preferably a material such as drill orsheetimpregnated with latex, 011$ resins, the like. 1'

auto top material; 3 a varnish-film containing rubber (10111905113101!-not, 85 Preferredaluminum powder, and 4 a surface film of a 1H8preferred to apply the u num powder pigmented coating composition. In adrying Oil Varnish Vehicle employ ng an 011 The following example isgiven to illustrate modified polyhydrlc l-p bas c cid resin.

one method of carrying out the present invenalthough other varnishes poy a ural or tion: synthetic resins maybeused: Obviously, the poly-Exa'mple.-Auto top material is made by comhydric alcohol-polybasic acidresin need not be hining two fabric sheets, such as a drill or sheettheparticular one disclosed in the above example, mg, with rubber cement.The combined fabric the general type of such resin for this purpose isthen coated with a calender coat of rubber being well known to thoseskilledinthe art. Furin the usual manner. embossed if desired, andthermore, the aluminum coating may be applied by means of the knowntypes of spray guns, which take an aluminum wire, melt it, and spray iton the surface in a very finely divided state.

The film of aluminum powder presents a very attractive and eflicientsurface and the product may be used without further coating, or ifdesired, a pigmented coating composition, such as a cellulose derivativelacquer or a varnish may be applied over the aluminum powder film.

An advantage of auto top material prepared according to the presentinvention lies in its durability and attractive appearance. When thefilm of aluminum powder is used as the surface coating, the material hasa highly attractive, bright, metallic finish which is particularlyadvantageous in reflecting the suns rays, in contrast to the heatabsorbing properties of the usual black auto top material. A furtheradvantage of the aluminum powder surface film is that as the filmweathers the surface gradually disintegrates and disappears, continuallyexposing a new, bright,-

ciean surface of aluminum powder-which is essentially the same inappearance as the original unexposed film. This type of finish isparticularly advantageous for trucks transporting foodstuffs or otherperishable material where it is desired to avoid excess heat, theinterior of an automobile or truck being appreciably cooler when usingthis type of top material as compared with the usual black top material.

When the auto top material of the present invention is subsequentlyvarnished or lacquered with a pigmented coating composition, theintermediate film of aluminum powder acts as a sealer coat and preventsoils and other softeners of the rubber composition from ,migrating tothe surface film. This function of the aluminum powder film prevents thedulling and more or less rapid failure of the pigmented surface filmencountered heretofore in attempting to use a pigmented coatingcomposition, other than a black coating composition over the rubbercoated top material. The subsequently applied varnish or lacquer shows adurability comparable to that of a similarcomposition applied to metalor wood. The auto top material of the present invention, of course,retains the flexibility and similar advantageous properties of theheretofore known flexible type auto top material.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodimentsthereof except as defined in the appended claims.

I'claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, auto topmaterial comprising a rubbercoated fabric base and superposed thereon a varnish film comprising anoil modified. polyhydric alcohol-polybasic acid resin and aluminumpowder, said powder being present in amount equivalent to approximately25 per cent by weight of the total solids in said varnish film.

2. A pliant article of manufacture comprising at least one layer offabric having a coating of rubber on one exposed surface thereof, and alayer of cured varnish composition on the rubber, said varnishcomposition containing an amount of aluminum powder sufficient to form asealer coat to prevent migration therethrough of oils and softenerscontained in the rubber.

3. A pliant article of manufacture comprising at least one layer offabric having a coatingof rubber on one exposed surface thereof, and alayer of cured polyh-ydric alcohol-polybasic acid resin type varnishcomposition on the rubber, said varnish composition containing an amountof aluminum powder suflicient to form a sealer coat.

to prevent migration therethrough of oils and exposed surface of one ofthe sheets, and a layer of cured varnish composition on the rubber, saidvarnish composition having a content of aluminum powder sufficient toform a sealer coat to prevent migration therethrough of oils andsofteners contained in the rubber.

} RUSSELL MORGAN.

